I planted one of each of these last summer in large pots for my patio which gets hot sun around noontime for a couple of hours and until 2 pm or so, and rays from the declining sun where these two are located, for a bit, but shade from 3 pm on and protected from early morning sun by the patio fence they sit against... a little bloom in the spring on the Mexican Orange Blossom, then none, and no blooms yet [late July] on the Grevillia [it barely survived winter, I guess, and this winter I'll bring it in]. How to promote more bloom? The Grevillea apparently doesn't like high phosphorus fertilizer. Does the Choisya bloom at all later in the summer or just once in spring? I may have to transplant these elsewhere or place the pots elsewhere...
Neither will want to sit out in pots during Arctic fronts. Flowering of Mexican orange is mostly, but not entirely seasonal. There's a main flush winter-spring, with a dribble in summer. If both shrubs have good deep green leaf color, strong growth then apparently soil conditions in the pots are acceptable to them. If not looking that good, then something will need to be changed - potting medium replaced, suitable fertilizer added, bigger pots...
Thanks, I am judging then that the growth is fine, and the leaf colour good -- they are just seasonal and require an easier winter for optimal show. The Grevillea -- it is Australian so wonder when it will bloom, if it does?
Hi Janet, the Canberra has finished flowering for me after a very long spring to early summer blooming period. If happy, yours may begin to set buds for next spring's bloom in the next couple of months. I would suggest fertilizing with alfalfa meal only...a trick I learned from the experts at Cistus Nursery in Portland who grow lots of these finicky Australian natives. As mentioned, keep it out of arctic blasts, esp. in a container. It seems reliably hardy in the ground hereabouts...the big old one in the UBC Lohbrunner garden having gone thru many winters and just kept on getting bigger...I believe it was finally removed to make room for newer additions (?)
Good -- the tag does say to avoid phosphorus in fertilizers for it... and it needs something I think. It is green and healthier looking now, so I am hoping it will set buds. It's not in Arctic blasts at all [but then last winter-spring was miserable wasn't it] where it is, there's a fence around the patio, just may not get enough sun [gets quite a bit, concentrated from 12 noon to 3 pm, but not all day]. I may move it to a sunny hot front garden where there would be more winter wind unfortunately too -- but do you think transplanting it again would spook it or what? Do you think deer would go for it? They would get it if I transplanted it to front area... Maybe I could move the pot out there and devise a screened cover for it against the deer; I already cover another pot with deer netting at night and remove at breakfast time... how long I can keep up that foolishness I don't know...
Hi again Janet--by transplanting, do you mean just moving the container from one spot to another, or is the grevillea in the ground at all? Grevilleas, like all their family (proteas) are incredibly root sensitive, and I would never try to uproot one unless I had no other option. I have one Canberra partly shaded and it flowers a bit less, but at least it doesn't seem to require dawn to dusk direct sun in order to bloom. Not sure about Canberra, but others (on Saltspring in this case) say that grevillea victorea is not bothered by the legions of deer there...so there is hope. Friends in Colwood also battle the neighborhood deer herd, with a notable success in the case of callistemon, another Aussie plant, as well as phormiums which you may have noticed aren't bothered by deer. They may sample a grevillea however, not knowing what it's like...and if it's still small that could hurt, eh? I'm just thankful that deer are one pest we don't worry about in my area.
The grevillea is in a pot, and I WAS thinking of taking it out of the pot and putting it in the ground out front where it's sunnier... perhaps I will just leave it where it is, not even moving the pot [the pot is quite large and would require some planning] since you say one of yours is partly shaded -- it's in sun during the hottest part of the day, 11 or 12 am to 3 or so but then otherwise partly [earlier a.m.] and totally [later p.m.] shaded. I sort of feel it doesn't get enough sun, nor perhaps the choisya. But I could move the pot although the whole thing would bake in most summers [as in Australia] and be more exposed in winters to wind... and I am not sure exactly where to place it unless I did take it out of the pot and put it in the ground, as there is limited space out front without sacrificing something. I'll do that as a last resort, if one more year doesn't let it show some bloom. The pot could be cracked and broken off, rather than digging it out, it isn't unique in any way.
